A home theatre music system, which was received as a gift at a wedding reception, turned out to be a bomb that killed two and injured five in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The incident reportedly happened earlier this week in Chamari village of Kabirdham district.&nbsp;

Chhattisgarh Police claimed that they have solved the case as they revealed that the music system had explosives which blew&nbsp;up when it was plugged into power.&nbsp;

The police said that the victim has been identified as Hemendra Meravi, who got married to Lalita Marwari (22). The wedding ceremony was organised in Chamari village on April 2.

A day after the function, police said that the family members started unwrapping the gifts they had received.&nbsp;

According to ASP Manisha Thakur, who is the investigating officer, said: "As soon as Meravi tried to connect the music system to an electronic socket and switched it on, an explosion occurred, killing him on the spot."&nbsp;

As quoted by media reports, Thakur revealed that the suspect, identified as Sarju Markam, was detained on Tuesday. Markam is reported to be a resident of Madhya Pradesh's Balaghat district.&nbsp;

The investigating officer also said, "During the&nbsp;questioning, the accused confessed to having planted explosives in the music system and gifting it to the newlyweds. We are yet to ascertain from where he got explosives and other details of the case."&nbsp;

Some reports have mentioned that Markam was Lalita's ex-boyfriend. The police also said that during the questioning, it was found that Meravi's wife was in constant touch with Markam.&nbsp;

The officer said that Meravi's brother succumbed to injuries during treatment in the hospital. The other injured people of the same family were rushed to a nearby hospital and are under treatment. "Condition of those injured in the explosion is said to be stable," the ASP added.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

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A home theatre music system, which was received as a gift at a wedding reception, turned out to be a bomb that killed two and injured five in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh.

A home theatre music system, which was received as a gift at a wedding reception, turned out to be a bomb that killed two and injured five in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The incident reportedly happened earlier this week in Chamari village of Kabirdham district. Chhattisgarh Police claimed that they have solved the case as they revealed that the music system had explosives which blew up when it was plugged into power. The police said that the victim has been identified as Hemendra Meravi, who got married to Lalita Marwari (22). The wedding ceremony was organised in Chamari village on April 2. A day after the function, police said that the family members started unwrapping the gifts they had received. According to ASP Manisha Thakur, who is the investigating officer, said: "As soon as Meravi tried to connect the music system to an electronic socket and switched it on, an explosion occurred, killing him on the spot." As quoted by media reports, Thakur revealed that the suspect, identified as Sarju Markam, was detained on Tuesday. Markam is reported to be a resident of Madhya Pradesh's Balaghat district. The investigating officer also said, "During the questioning, the accused confessed to having planted explosives in the music system and gifting it to the newlyweds. We are yet to ascertain from where he got explosives and other details of the case." Some reports have mentioned that Markam was Lalita's ex-boyfriend. The police also said that during the questioning, it was found that Meravi's wife was in constant touch with Markam. The officer said that Meravi's brother succumbed to injuries during treatment in the hospital. The other injured people of the same family were rushed to a nearby hospital and are under treatment. "Condition of those injured in the explosion is said to be stable," the ASP added. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Groom dies after bride's ex-lover gives explosive-filled 'home theatre system' as wedding gift

In a novel initiative, the Chhattisgarh police is using an audio music album - comprising songs in regional languages - as its latest weapon to encourage Naxals in the Bastar division to shun violence.

The songs will achieve what the guns have failed to do so far in the Naxal hotbed of Bastar, the police hopes.

The album, titled 'Nava Bihan' (meaning 'a new morning' in the local language), composed by the Kondagaon district police, contains five songs expressing the pain of tribals living in the strife-torn zone.

The songs appeal to those involved in the outlawed movement to join the mainstream.

"Music and art play a significant role in re-establishing peace and relaying messages to the people. We are making an attempt through this music album to reach out to people, connect with them and convey our messages to bring peace and development in the area," Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Vivekanand Sinha told PTI.

The initiative is aimed at countering the Maoists' propaganda being spread through their cultural wing, named 'Chetna Natya Manch', and making the tribal populace aware of the negative effects of violence and about the necessity of education and development, he said.

Kondagaon's Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Maheshwar Nag has lent his voice to the album's three songs sung in the state's 'Chhattisgarhi' language, while local singer Ashu Madhuraj has crooned the two other numbers in the 'Halbi' dialect of Bastar.

"The songs, closely related to the life of tribals, explain how they are living under the fear of Maoists and suffering from lack of facilities," Nag said.

"The album carries the message that relatives of Naxals want them to quit violence and come back home. Besides, it expresses the grief of relatives of Naxals who were gunned down in encounters with police," he said.

The ultimate aim is to counter Naxals with their own tactics and to stop the influence of their cultural body, the official said.

The lyricist's name has not been printed on the album's cover as he did not want to be identified. Instead a pseudonym, 'Roop Koytur', has been mentioned, the ASP said.

After the album was released by Chief Minister Raman Singh during his visit to Kondagaon last month, the district police personnel uploaded the songs on their mobile phones to propagate its message in their respective areas.

"In fact, we were happy to hear these songs being played at marriages in some of the villages where we recently conducted the anti-Maoist operations," said Nag, who is delighted at the response that the album has been getting.

The locals are using the songs as ring tones of their mobile phones, he said.

The aim is not to make these songs popular, but to reach out to the rebels to persuade them to shun violence. The purpose of this initiative will be served only when Naxals get encouraged to lay down their arms, Nag said.

The songs will achieve what the guns have failed to do so far in the Naxal hotbed of Bastar, the police hopes

In a novel initiative, the Chhattisgarh police is using an audio music album - comprising songs in regional languages - as its latest weapon to encourage Naxals in the Bastar division to shun violence. The songs will achieve what the guns have failed to do so far in the Naxal hotbed of Bastar, the police hopes. The album, titled 'Nava Bihan' (meaning 'a new morning' in the local language), composed by the Kondagaon district police, contains five songs expressing the pain of tribals living in the strife-torn zone. The songs appeal to those involved in the outlawed movement to join the mainstream. "Music and art play a significant role in re-establishing peace and relaying messages to the people. We are making an attempt through this music album to reach out to people, connect with them and convey our messages to bring peace and development in the area," Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Vivekanand Sinha told PTI. The initiative is aimed at countering the Maoists' propaganda being spread through their cultural wing, named 'Chetna Natya Manch', and making the tribal populace aware of the negative effects of violence and about the necessity of education and development, he said. Kondagaon's Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Maheshwar Nag has lent his voice to the album's three songs sung in the state's 'Chhattisgarhi' language, while local singer Ashu Madhuraj has crooned the two other numbers in the 'Halbi' dialect of Bastar. "The songs, closely related to the life of tribals, explain how they are living under the fear of Maoists and suffering from lack of facilities," Nag said. "The album carries the message that relatives of Naxals want them to quit violence and come back home. Besides, it expresses the grief of relatives of Naxals who were gunned down in encounters with police," he said. The ultimate aim is to counter Naxals with their own tactics and to stop the influence of their cultural body, the official said. The lyricist's name has not been printed on the album's cover as he did not want to be identified. Instead a pseudonym, 'Roop Koytur', has been mentioned, the ASP said. After the album was released by Chief Minister Raman Singh during his visit to Kondagaon last month, the district police personnel uploaded the songs on their mobile phones to propagate its message in their respective areas. "In fact, we were happy to hear these songs being played at marriages in some of the villages where we recently conducted the anti-Maoist operations," said Nag, who is delighted at the response that the album has been getting. The locals are using the songs as ring tones of their mobile phones, he said. The aim is not to make these songs popular, but to reach out to the rebels to persuade them to shun violence. The purpose of this initiative will be served only when Naxals get encouraged to lay down their arms, Nag said.

To get Naxals to give up arms, Chhattisgarh Police cuts music album

A Raipur court on Monday rejected the bail plea of journalist Vinod Verma who was arrested on October 27 by Chhattisgarh police. &nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/journalist-vinod-verma-to-stay-in-judicial-custody-till-november-13-23195">Verma was arrested in connection with a case of blackmailing and extortion.&nbsp;</a>

Police alleged Verma tried to extort money from Chhattisgarh PWD minister Rajesh Kumar.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/chhattisgarh-sex-cd-case-journalist-vinod-vermas-bail-plea-rejected-23599">Verma informed the media persons at the time of his arrest that Chhattisgarh government was unhappy with him</a> because he had &quot;a sex CD of the state minister, Rajesh Munat&quot;. &nbsp;

Earlier the court extended Vinod Verma&#39;s judicial custody till November 13.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Verma was arrested in connection with a case of blackmailing and extortion by Chhattisgarh

A Raipur court on Monday rejected the bail plea of journalist Vinod Verma who was arrested on October 27 by Chhattisgarh police. Verma was arrested in connection with a case of blackmailing and extortion. Police alleged Verma tried to extort money from Chhattisgarh PWD minister Rajesh Kumar. Verma informed the media persons at the time of his arrest that Chhattisgarh government was unhappy with him because he had "a sex CD of the state minister, Rajesh Munat". Earlier the court extended Vinod Verma's judicial custody till November 13.

Journalist Vinod Verma's bail plea rejected

Senior Journalist Vinod Verma has been sent to judicial remand till November 13.&nbsp;

Verma was <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/chattisgarh-police-arrests-journalist-vinod-verma-allege-extortion-23005">arrested by Chhattisgarh Police</a> on October 27, in connection with a case of blackmailing and extortion.&nbsp;

Police alleged Verma tried to extort money from Chhattisgarh PWD minister Rajesh Kumar.

Verma told the media while he was being arrested that the Chhattisgarh government was unhappy with him because he had &quot;a sex CD of the state minister, Rajesh Munat&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The journalist was earlier remanded in custody by the Chhattisgarh police till October 31.&nbsp;

The police had then requested for a remand for five days, however, the court agreed for a remand till October 31 only.&nbsp; 
 
Verma was brought to Raipur after his arrest from Ghaziabad.&nbsp;

Verma was arrested by Chhattisgarh Police on October 27, over a case of blackmailing and extortion

Senior Journalist Vinod Verma has been sent to judicial remand till November 13. Verma was arrested by Chhattisgarh Police on October 27, in connection with a case of blackmailing and extortion. Police alleged Verma tried to extort money from Chhattisgarh PWD minister Rajesh Kumar. Verma told the media while he was being arrested that the Chhattisgarh government was unhappy with him because he had "a sex CD of the state minister, Rajesh Munat". The journalist was earlier remanded in custody by the Chhattisgarh police till October 31. The police had then requested for a remand for five days, however, the court agreed for a remand till October 31 only. Verma was brought to Raipur after his arrest from Ghaziabad.

Journalist Vinod Verma to stay in judicial custody till November 13

The independent researcher and human rights worker Bela Bhatia was woken early on Sunday morning -- the 23rd, at about 1.30 am -- by the sound of her dog Somari barking furiously.&nbsp;

That was followed by a loud banging on the door, made of tin and propped up with a bamboo stick, to the compound of her home in Parpa village on the outskirts of Jagdalpur, the district and divisional headquarters of Bastar district in Chhattisgarh.&nbsp;

&quot;Come out on to the road,&quot; two men told her.&nbsp;

&quot;No thank you,&quot; said Bela. &quot;Come back tomorrow.&quot;&nbsp;

They did, on Monday. There were about 30 of them this time, says Bela.&nbsp;

Some of them walked into her home, after which they threatened to burn it down if she did not leave Bastar within 24 hours, and then made Bela and her landlady sign an undertaking that she would leave in a day. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The attacks on Bela came a few days after she had journeyed to the villages of Pedagellur and Bellam Nendra in Bijapur district to help women there testify to a visiting National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team.&nbsp;

In October 2015 and January 2016, women from the two villages, and others, had allegedly been raped, and sexually and physically assaulted by personnel of the security forces. Bela had helped the assaulted women file FIRs (first information reports). &nbsp;&nbsp;

The NHRC team had come to collect the testimonies of the women they had not&nbsp;yet got.&nbsp;

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Bastar inspector general of police SRP Kalluri. (Image source: Adivasi Resurgence) (Others)
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&nbsp;

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Bela Bhatia at home in Bastar with her dog Somari. (WION)
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The reaction

In reaction to the attacks on Bela, an email was sent out and a post put up on Facebook. The email and Facebook post contained numbers to four people: the inspector general of police of Bastar SRP Kalluri, the superintendent of police of Bastar RN Dash, the district collector Amit Kataria, and the director general of police (anti-Naxal operations, Chhattisgarh) DM Awashthi.&nbsp;

The email and post urged anybody reading to call the officials, and demand Bela&#39;s safety.&nbsp;

One of the first people to call was Gayatri V. (Gayatri runs the NGO Bagheera which works with wastepickers in Kolkata, before which she worked with the UNHCR in Jordan.)&nbsp;

Gayatri called -- on Monday at about 9 pm -- one of the numbers given in the email and post to Mr Kalluri, the seniormost police officer in Bastar. &nbsp;&nbsp;

She says the phone was picked up and when she asked for him, handed to Mr Kalluri.&nbsp;

She asked about Bela.&nbsp;

&quot;Yes, she (Bela) was attacked,&quot; Gayatri says Mr Kalluri said to her. &quot;She was hurt,&quot; he added.&nbsp;

&quot;She was taken to hospital,&quot; he said. And, &quot;We have now got news that she has died...&quot;

Gayatri says she was shocked. &quot;Died?&quot; she asked again.&nbsp;

&quot;Haan, haan,&quot; she says Mr Kalluri said to her. After which he added, &quot;I&#39;m very sorry.&quot;&nbsp;

&quot;Which hospital was she taken to?&quot; Gayatri asked Mr Kalluri.&nbsp;

&quot;I&#39;m looking into it,&quot; she says he replied.

And then he cut the call.&nbsp;

But Bela was alive and well

None of what Mr Kalluri is alleged to have said was true.&nbsp;

Bela was not dead, she was alive and well, though presumably shaken by the two attacks on her.&nbsp;

In the meantime, the email and Facebook post had found traction. The messages to Mr Kalluri continued, and slowly devolved (on at least one side) into a repulsive war of words between concerned citizens and a senior police officer. &nbsp;

The Supreme Court lawyer and socio-political activist Pyoli Swatija says she messaged Mr Kalluri at about 11 am on Tuesday.&nbsp;

Her message read: &quot;Please ensure that Bela Bhatia is not hounded out of her residence. The law of the land applies to Chhattisgarh too.&quot;&nbsp;

An hour later, she says she received this message: &quot;Naxals will be kicked out of Bastar.&quot;&nbsp;

When Pyoli answered, &quot;What has your answer to do with my query?&quot;, the reply she got was &nbsp;&quot;F u&quot;.&nbsp;

Another message to Mr Kalluri -- &quot;This can&#39;t go (sic) long. You are not above the constitution. Don&#39;t sell your conscience for money&quot; -- elicited the response: &quot;Maoists and their dogs like you will be stoned out of Bastar. Beware.&quot;&nbsp;

Yet another message to Mr Kalluri (see photo below) -- &nbsp;&quot;Do citizens of India not have the right to residence in Chhatisgarh?!&quot; -- was met with the reply: &quot;Yes, we are taking strong action. Very soon, Maoists and their dogs will be thrown out of Bastar.&quot;&nbsp;

Supreme Court lawyer and former Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group (JagLAG)&nbsp;member Guneet Kaur&#39;s message to Mr Kalluri -- &quot;Your actions are unconstitutional and anti national&quot;, was replied to with: &quot;Stop bitching&quot;.&nbsp;

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The messages, and their replies, sent to Mr Kalluri. (Facebook)
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The police version: &#39;I have no time for you&#39;

When WION called Mr Kalluri -- on one of the four numbers given to Mr Kalluri in the original email and Facebook post -- he refused to answer any questions, instead saying: &quot;You want to talk about Bela Bhatia, then I have no time for you.&quot;&nbsp;

Bela says she will be leaving her current home.&nbsp;

A little after the attacks on her, she says her landlady&#39;s husband and sons were called in for a talk with the police. And that, despite the fact that her landlord and landlady are not happy about it, she has decided to leave. &nbsp;

For now, she says, the district collector has offered to find her a home. &quot;That will be temporary,&quot; she says. &quot;I will find something else in the meantime.&quot;&nbsp;

The &quot;pressure&quot;&nbsp;on her, says Bela, had been building for some time.&nbsp;

In November last year, Bela says a &quot;letter&quot; reached the Parpa thana via the office of the superintendent of police saying residents of the village were upset with Bela, and that she should be looked at as a person of suspicion. Bela says the locals mentioned in the letter say they never wrote any such letter.&nbsp;

In January this year, another letter appeared, this time purporting to be from Bela herself. Bela says this letter complained (by her) about the illegal brewing (by the villagers) of liquor in Parpa.&nbsp;

The letters, she says, were probably trying to create a rift between the villagers of Parpa and Bela.&nbsp;

She also adds that she never wrote any such letter.&nbsp;

In October last year, uniformed personnel of the security forces burnt an effigy of her in Kondagaon. (This was a first. Whatever the Indian police&#39;s excesses, in Chhattisgarh and elsewhere, they have never been known to burn effigies of common citizens.)&nbsp;

Effigies of other people burnt in Kondagaon included those of the Communist Party of India leader Manish Kunjam, Delhi University professor Nandini Sundar, social activist Himanshu Kumar, &nbsp;Aam Aadmi Party leader Soni Sori, and the Scroll journalist Malini Subramaniam.&nbsp;

There is no one left in Bastar

The &quot;attacks&quot; -- by the police -- &nbsp;on these common citizens have been &quot;successful&quot;.&nbsp;

Himanshu Kumar left Bastar in 2009.&nbsp;

Malini Subramaniam left Jagdalpur on February 20, 2016.&nbsp;

A few days prior, her home had been attacked at night. (Malini and her daughter were alone at home at the time.)&nbsp;

And just before that, a &quot;demonstration&quot; against her had been held by the citizens&#39; vigilante group Samajik Ekta Manch. (An India Today television sting later seemed to prove the manch was created by the Bastar police.)&nbsp;

Isha Khandelwal of JagLAG says they left Jagdalpur at about the same time. (JagLAG now works out of Bilaspur, a 14-hour drive away.)&nbsp;

In both cases, Isha alleges police coercion.&nbsp;

In Malini&#39;s case -- whom JagLAG represented -- she said Malini&#39;s maid was held by the police.&nbsp;

In JagLAG&#39;s case, their landlord&#39;s car was confiscated. Their landlord was a taxi driver, and his livelihood depended on the car.&nbsp;

&quot;It was only when we agreed to leave Bastar that the police let Malini&#39;s maid go, and released our landlord&#39;s car,&quot; she says.&nbsp;

Exactly the same sort of pressure, it seems, is being brought to bear on Bela.&nbsp;

The common link between all these people is that they offered (or offer) a narrative that was different from the one the government of Chhattisgarh or the police administration of Bastar has to tell -- Kumar was raising human rights violations by the police and the Salwa Judum (the civilian militia raised by the state in Chhattisgarh), the lawyers of JagLAG were representing the families of men and women murdered in extra-judicial killings, the victims of rape and sexual assault by personnel of the security forces, and the (largely) tribal men and women falsely accused on charges of Naxalism, Malini Subramaniam was reporting and continues to report on police excesses in the region, and Bela Bhatia is helping women who say they have been raped and assaulted by personnel of the security forces file FIRs against their attackers.&nbsp;

There have, in recent months, been myriad reports -- corroborated by the Press Council of India -- about Bastar turning into a media black hole.&nbsp;

No news comes out of there, because nobody is left there to tell a story different from the one the police tells us.&nbsp;

Apart from Bela.&nbsp;

(WION)

Another message sent to inspector general of police SRP Kalluri was replied to with: 'Stop b****ing'

The independent researcher and human rights worker Bela Bhatia was woken early on Sunday morning -- the 23rd, at about 1.30 am -- by the sound of her dog Somari barking furiously. That was followed by a loud banging on the door, made of tin and propped up with a bamboo stick, to the compound of her home in Parpa village on the outskirts of Jagdalpur, the district and divisional headquarters of Bastar district in Chhattisgarh. "Come out on to the road," two men told her. "No thank you," said Bela. "Come back tomorrow." They did, on Monday. There were about 30 of them this time, says Bela. Some of them walked into her home, after which they threatened to burn it down if she did not leave Bastar within 24 hours, and then made Bela and her landlady sign an undertaking that she would leave in a day. The attacks on Bela came a few days after she had journeyed to the villages of Pedagellur and Bellam Nendra in Bijapur district to help women there testify to a visiting National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team. In October 2015 and January 2016, women from the two villages, and others, had allegedly been raped, and sexually and physically assaulted by personnel of the security forces. Bela had helped the assaulted women file FIRs (first information reports). The NHRC team had come to collect the testimonies of the women they had not yet got. Bastar inspector general of police SRP Kalluri. (Image source: Adivasi Resurgence) (Others) × Bela Bhatia at home in Bastar with her dog Somari. (WION) × The reaction In reaction to the attacks on Bela, an email was sent out and a post put up on Facebook. The email and Facebook post contained numbers to four people: the inspector general of police of Bastar SRP Kalluri, the superintendent of police of Bastar RN Dash, the district collector Amit Kataria, and the director general of police (anti-Naxal operations, Chhattisgarh) DM Awashthi. The email and post urged anybody reading to call the officials, and demand Bela's safety. One of the first people to call was Gayatri V. (Gayatri runs the NGO Bagheera which works with wastepickers in Kolkata, before which she worked with the UNHCR in Jordan.) Gayatri called -- on Monday at about 9 pm -- one of the numbers given in the email and post to Mr Kalluri, the seniormost police officer in Bastar. She says the phone was picked up and when she asked for him, handed to Mr Kalluri. She asked about Bela. "Yes, she (Bela) was attacked," Gayatri says Mr Kalluri said to her. "She was hurt," he added. "She was taken to hospital," he said. And, "We have now got news that she has died..." Gayatri says she was shocked. "Died?" she asked again. "Haan, haan," she says Mr Kalluri said to her. After which he added, "I'm very sorry." "Which hospital was she taken to?" Gayatri asked Mr Kalluri. "I'm looking into it," she says he replied. And then he cut the call. But Bela was alive and well None of what Mr Kalluri is alleged to have said was true. Bela was not dead, she was alive and well, though presumably shaken by the two attacks on her. In the meantime, the email and Facebook post had found traction. The messages to Mr Kalluri continued, and slowly devolved (on at least one side) into a repulsive war of words between concerned citizens and a senior police officer. The Supreme Court lawyer and socio-political activist Pyoli Swatija says she messaged Mr Kalluri at about 11 am on Tuesday. Her message read: "Please ensure that Bela Bhatia is not hounded out of her residence. The law of the land applies to Chhattisgarh too." An hour later, she says she received this message: "Naxals will be kicked out of Bastar." When Pyoli answered, "What has your answer to do with my query?", the reply she got was "F u". Another message to Mr Kalluri -- "This can't go (sic) long. You are not above the constitution. Don't sell your conscience for money" -- elicited the response: "Maoists and their dogs like you will be stoned out of Bastar. Beware." Yet another message to Mr Kalluri (see photo below) -- "Do citizens of India not have the right to residence in Chhatisgarh?!" -- was met with the reply: "Yes, we are taking strong action. Very soon, Maoists and their dogs will be thrown out of Bastar." Supreme Court lawyer and former Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group (JagLAG) member Guneet Kaur's message to Mr Kalluri -- "Your actions are unconstitutional and anti national", was replied to with: "Stop bitching". The messages, and their replies, sent to Mr Kalluri. (Facebook) × The police version: 'I have no time for you' When WION called Mr Kalluri -- on one of the four numbers given to Mr Kalluri in the original email and Facebook post -- he refused to answer any questions, instead saying: "You want to talk about Bela Bhatia, then I have no time for you." Bela says she will be leaving her current home. A little after the attacks on her, she says her landlady's husband and sons were called in for a talk with the police. And that, despite the fact that her landlord and landlady are not happy about it, she has decided to leave. For now, she says, the district collector has offered to find her a home. "That will be temporary," she says. "I will find something else in the meantime." The "pressure" on her, says Bela, had been building for some time. In November last year, Bela says a "letter" reached the Parpa thana via the office of the superintendent of police saying residents of the village were upset with Bela, and that she should be looked at as a person of suspicion. Bela says the locals mentioned in the letter say they never wrote any such letter. In January this year, another letter appeared, this time purporting to be from Bela herself. Bela says this letter complained (by her) about the illegal brewing (by the villagers) of liquor in Parpa. The letters, she says, were probably trying to create a rift between the villagers of Parpa and Bela. She also adds that she never wrote any such letter. In October last year, uniformed personnel of the security forces burnt an effigy of her in Kondagaon. (This was a first. Whatever the Indian police's excesses, in Chhattisgarh and elsewhere, they have never been known to burn effigies of common citizens.) Effigies of other people burnt in Kondagaon included those of the Communist Party of India leader Manish Kunjam, Delhi University professor Nandini Sundar, social activist Himanshu Kumar, Aam Aadmi Party leader Soni Sori, and the Scroll journalist Malini Subramaniam. There is no one left in Bastar The "attacks" -- by the police -- on these common citizens have been "successful". Himanshu Kumar left Bastar in 2009. Malini Subramaniam left Jagdalpur on February 20, 2016. A few days prior, her home had been attacked at night. (Malini and her daughter were alone at home at the time.) And just before that, a "demonstration" against her had been held by the citizens' vigilante group Samajik Ekta Manch. (An India Today television sting later seemed to prove the manch was created by the Bastar police.) Isha Khandelwal of JagLAG says they left Jagdalpur at about the same time. (JagLAG now works out of Bilaspur, a 14-hour drive away.) In both cases, Isha alleges police coercion. In Malini's case -- whom JagLAG represented -- she said Malini's maid was held by the police. In JagLAG's case, their landlord's car was confiscated. Their landlord was a taxi driver, and his livelihood depended on the car. "It was only when we agreed to leave Bastar that the police let Malini's maid go, and released our landlord's car," she says. Exactly the same sort of pressure, it seems, is being brought to bear on Bela. The common link between all these people is that they offered (or offer) a narrative that was different from the one the government of Chhattisgarh or the police administration of Bastar has to tell -- Kumar was raising human rights violations by the police and the Salwa Judum (the civilian militia raised by the state in Chhattisgarh), the lawyers of JagLAG were representing the families of men and women murdered in extra-judicial killings, the victims of rape and sexual assault by personnel of the security forces, and the (largely) tribal men and women falsely accused on charges of Naxalism, Malini Subramaniam was reporting and continues to report on police excesses in the region, and Bela Bhatia is helping women who say they have been raped and assaulted by personnel of the security forces file FIRs against their attackers. There have, in recent months, been myriad reports -- corroborated by the Press Council of India -- about Bastar turning into a media black hole. No news comes out of there, because nobody is left there to tell a story different from the one the police tells us. Apart from Bela. (WION)

India: Messages of concern sent to Bastar top cop after activist is threatened, reply is 'F u'

India&#39;s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the Chhattisgarh government over the alleged rape and sexual abuse of at least 16 tribal women by the police. &nbsp;

The rights commission in a statement issued on Saturday&nbsp;said it was awaiting recorded statements of about &quot;20 other victims.&quot;

&quot;The NHRC has found 16 women, prima facie, victims of rape, sexual and physical assault by the state police personnel in Chhattisgarh,&quot; the statement read.&nbsp;

The proceedings were initiated after a 2015 news report that stated women of five villages had accused police personnel of sexually harassing and assaulting more than 40 of them and gang-raping at least two in Bijapur district.

The victims reiterated they were raped before the NHRC team which conducted a spot investigation.&nbsp;

Through First Information Reports (FIR) filed by the victims of rape and sexual assault, the commission found&nbsp;that there are in &quot;total 34 victims mentioned in police complaints.&quot;

The NHRC team&nbsp;&quot;could record the statements of only 14 victims out of the 34 victims mentioned in the FIRs. Thus, statements of 20 victims are yet to be recorded by it.&quot;

The NHRC said the&nbsp;Chattisgarh government was &quot;vicariously liable&quot; for the assault.

A notice was served to the government &quot;to show cause why it should not recommend interim monetary relief of Rs 37 lakh to them, which includes Rs 3 lakh each to eight victims of rape, Rs 2 lakh each to six victims of sexual assault and Rs 50,000 each to two victims of physical assault.&quot;

&quot;Almost all the victims in these incidents, covered under the three FIRs, are tribals. However, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has not been invoked in any of the cases. As a result of this, the due monetary relief under the SC/ST (PoA) Act has not been paid to the victims,&quot; it added.

(WION with inputs from PTI)

The National Human Rights Commission is awaiting the recorded statements of about '20 other victims'

India's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the Chhattisgarh government over the alleged rape and sexual abuse of at least 16 tribal women by the police. The rights commission in a statement issued on Saturday said it was awaiting recorded statements of about "20 other victims." "The NHRC has found 16 women, prima facie, victims of rape, sexual and physical assault by the state police personnel in Chhattisgarh," the statement read. The proceedings were initiated after a 2015 news report that stated women of five villages had accused police personnel of sexually harassing and assaulting more than 40 of them and gang-raping at least two in Bijapur district. The victims reiterated they were raped before the NHRC team which conducted a spot investigation. Through First Information Reports (FIR) filed by the victims of rape and sexual assault, the commission found that there are in "total 34 victims mentioned in police complaints." The NHRC team "could record the statements of only 14 victims out of the 34 victims mentioned in the FIRs. Thus, statements of 20 victims are yet to be recorded by it." The NHRC said the Chattisgarh government was "vicariously liable" for the assault. A notice was served to the government "to show cause why it should not recommend interim monetary relief of Rs 37 lakh to them, which includes Rs 3 lakh each to eight victims of rape, Rs 2 lakh each to six victims of sexual assault and Rs 50,000 each to two victims of physical assault." "Almost all the victims in these incidents, covered under the three FIRs, are tribals. However, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has not been invoked in any of the cases. As a result of this, the due monetary relief under the SC/ST (PoA) Act has not been paid to the victims," it added. (WION with inputs from PTI)

India's rights commission says 16 tribal women raped by Chhattisgarh police, sends notice to government